Whys and Wherefores (aka WTAF?)

For those of you looking for a little background, here is the TLDR story. I’ve been fascinated by the whole idea of fasting since…yikes, I don’t even know but it started with an article from GQ something like a decade ago. 

The health arguments in favour of periodic, significant calorie restriction seemed unarguable even then, and today with all the attention around such concepts as the 5:2 diet, reduced eating windows, OMAD (one meal a day) and even such star power as Chris “Thor” Hemsworth working with fasting guru Peter Attia on his Disney+ show Limitless, it can’t be said not to be in the mainstream anymore. 

This despite the, ahem, wide variety of responses we’ve garnered in telling friends about our Easter holiday plans. Yes, it isn’t exactly expected to go on a roughly 200 calorie per day regimen over the usual feast-y Passover week/Easter weekend. That said, the anti-inflammatory, overall gut health and metabolism reset, and pretty solidly evidenced anti-aging benefits provide solid arguments in favour of this experiment…and all of that before the wilder, emotional and spiritual possible effects. 

We’ll try to report as factually as possible, in as much as we’re not delusional from lack of sustenance! For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t anticipate such negative outcomes, although we are told there will be some difficulties particularly around day three of the fasting protocol as the body makes its last ditch attempts to force one back into carb-rich, sugar-burning mode (which we tend to be in rather too much of the time) rather than make the shift to fat-burning mode, or the much discussed “ketosis”. 

More in another post about the resort/health spa/clinic where we’ll be engaging in aforementioned fast - it's called Buchinger Wilhelmi for the curious - and it needs be said that this is a wonderfully privileged thing to be doing, and I’m mindful of my good fortune to be able to drop myself into the care of the good family Buchinger Wilhelmi like this.

To that end, I'll stop here with yet another link, to Vicky's favourite article about the whole BW fasting experience from Conde Naste Traveler. Suffice it to say that I find myself in very solid (even if it is only prospective, here on day one of the experience) agreement with the writer of the piece, who concluded that the intangible benefits were much greater than the - however perceptible - weight loss/tangible ones:

"...though I had ostensibly come to Buchinger to get some rest and shift some pounds – I dropped an amazing 13lbs – I had gained a great deal more than I lost."